Summary: Buddhism is known for its commitment to non-violence, but that hasn't stopped machete-wielding Buddhists from killing more than 200 Muslims in Myanmar in the past year. Also, lucid dreaming as a spiritual practice, and Modern-Day Mystics: the new generation.

Radical Buddhism

July 16, 2013

In Myanmar, an unlikely group of people is inciting violence against Muslims--Buddhist monks. Buddhist nationalists have now killed more than 200 Rohingya Muslims, inspired in part by a Buddhist monk with shorn hair, a saffron robe and a gentle voice: Ashin Wirathu. Though he denies any role in the riots, critics say his racist preaching has heightened resentment towards the growing Muslim minority.

Pictured: A house being burned during the 2012 Rohingya riots in Rakhine, Myanmar.

For Tibetan Buddhists, dreams can be a perfect laboratory for investigating the nature of reality. If you can learn how to awaken inside your dream--that is, become aware that you're dreaming and even take control of your dream--you can learn how to "wake up" in the rest of your life.

Kumare looks just like you might imagine a Hindu guru. He has long hair, a stringy beard and wears a sarong. But his real name is Vikram Gandhi....and he grew up in New Jersey. Gandhi talks about his documentary, Kumare, in which he impersonates a guru whose message to students is that they don't really need him. From September 2012.

Preeti Harris and Adam Elenbaas came along after the so-called hippie generation, but their ways of accessing the mystical are age-old. Raised in a Hindu household, Preeti Harris has found her spiritual sustenance in meditation. Adam Elenbaas has traveled down many mystical paths. In this segment, he takes us on on a journey to Peru and introduces us to the mind-altering Amazonian plant known as ayahuasca.